The best Matcha Green Tea comes from the first flush, baby green tea leaves that grow during the spring. Only the newest buds of the shade grown tea plants are hand-picked for Premium Matcha production. The window for ideal Matcha Green Tea growth is very limited, which is one of the reasons that Matcha is one of the more expensive teas on the market. There are also several harmful effects of green tea over-consumption that are possible. These include consuming tainted supplements marked as green tea extract, high caffeine consumption, consuming aluminum, and the effects of tea polyphenols on iron bioavailability. Green tea extracts should not be taken by patients suffering from renal failure, liver disease, heart conditions or major cardiovascular problems without supervision from a doctor. People sensitive to caffeine should be careful of their intake. Pregnant and breast-feeding women should drink no more than one or two cups per day, as some research shows that more caffeine than this amount may interfere with normal heart rhythms.

To cut down on aches and pains, try to sip four cups of green tea a day. The tea contains quercetin, a chemical compound that acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. In a recent study conducted at Case Western Reserve University, researchers gave mice the equivalent of four cups of green tea a day, then gave them a substance that would normally produce rheumatoid arthritis. The tea-drinking mice were far less likely to develop arthritis than mice that drank water. According to the Iowa Women’s Health Study, women who drank more than three cups of tea a day were 60 percent less likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than non tea drinkers. Other research has found that tea’s polyphenols—antioxidant properties—are also anti-inflammatory and improve arthritis-related immune responses. Did you know other teas also act as natural home remedies for arthritis pain?

According to the National Cancer Institute, the polyphenols in tea have been shown to decrease tumor growth in both animal and laboratory studies. Researchers believe that it is the high level of polyphenols in tea that help kill cancerous cells and stop them from growing, although the exact mechanism by which tea inhibits and prevents cancerous cells is uncertain. Matcha literally means "powdered tea." When you order traditional green tea, components from the leaves get infused into the hot water, then the leaves are discarded. With matcha, you’re drinking the actual leaves, which have been finely powdered and made into a solution, traditionally by mixing about a teaspoon of matcha powder with a third cup of hot water (heated to less than a boil), which is then whisked with a bamboo brush until it froths. Being a green tea, matcha does contain caffeine and in higher levels than other green teas. Because the entire leaf is used, matcha tea can contain nearly as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. However, caffeine release is believed to be slower because you are drinking the entire leaf. This slower release of caffeine reduces “caffeine jitters” that coffee or other teas can cause.

Slimming tea: Does it work and is it bad for you? Slimming teas have become increasingly popular in recent years. They aim to suppress the appetite, reduce fat, or boost the metabolism. However, while weight loss may result, this is largely due to fluid loss. The use of these teas remains controversial, and people are encouraged to use other methods of weight loss. Read now

In China though, the term black tea or dark tea typically refers to a tea that we call Pu-erh in the United States. This tea is fermented anywhere between 2 weeks to two months and then aged for 2 months to 20+ years in order to create dark black leaves and a dark color to the brew. In this fermentation process the leaves are intentionally kept damp to encourage good microbes and bacteria to slowly oxidize and ferment the leaves. This is distinguished from red tea which typically only takes about 6-10 hours to oxidize. Pu-erh tea typically has a strong fermentation taste but high quality pu-erh should not taste overly earthy as this is a sign of low quality production techniques.

And not all the science has been favorable to tea. A report in the March 1 edition of The New England Journal of Medicine looking at green tea consumption in humans, found no effect on stomach cancers once adjustments were made for other factors that could affect risk. Those other factors included sex, age, history of stomach ulcer, use of tobacco or alcohol, and other dietary habits.

Green tea, however, is considered to have originated in China. It is said that even today the word “tea” in China refers only to green tea, not to the general category of tea as it does in the West. China’s Yunnan province is considered to be the original home of the Camellia sinensis plant species. In fact, 260 of the world’s 380+ varieties of tea can be found in Yunnan.